The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1887-08-25

teentniy" Woulo Hno tneIH lresn anu oHi y
per.
In those days there was enough time for |
man to take an hour to warm himself
up to the subject, and an hour to cool Off. |
But what was necessity then is super
fluffy now. Congregations are full of
knowledge from books, from newspa-
pers, from rapid and continuous inter-
communication, and long disquisitions OF
what they know already will not be
abided. If Il religious teacher can not
compress what he wishes to say to the
people in the space of forty-five minutes,
better adjourn 1T to some other day.
The trouble is we Preach audiences into
Christian frame, AMI then we preach
them out of it. We forget that every an
ditor has so much capacity of attention,
and when that is exhausted he is restless. !
That accident on the Long Island rail-
road some years ago came from the fact
that the brakes were out of order, and
when they wanted to stop the train they
could not stop, and hence the casualty
was terri fic. In all relig-
ious discourse we want loco
motive power and propulsion.
We want, at the same time, stout brakes
to let down at the right instant. 1t is
dismal thing, after hearer has compre-
say:
"Now to recapitulate," and "a few
words by way of application" and "once
more,n and finally" and "now to con-
Guide" s-
Paul preached until midnight, and
Eutychus got sound asleep and fell out of
window and broke his neck. Some
| would say:
| s1Iood for him -
would rather be sympathetic like Paul
| and resuscitate him. That accident is
often quoted now in religious circles as
warning against somnolence in church.
| 1t is just as much warning to ministers
| against prolixity. Eutychus was wrong
| in his omnolenee, but Paul made mis-
| take when he kept on until midnight. He
| ought to have stopped at eleven o'clock,
| and there would have been no accident,
if Paul might have gone on to too great
| length, let all of us who are now preach
ing The Gospel remember that there is a
limit to religious discourse, or ought to
be- and that in our time we have no apos-
| tolic power of miracles.
Napoleon IN an address of seven min
utes thrilled his army, and thrilled
Europe. Christ's sermon on the mount,
the model sermon, was less than eighteen
minutes long at ordinary mode of de-
livery. 1t is not electricity scattered all
over the sky that strikes. but electricity
gathered in thund erbolt and hurled, and
1T is not religious truth scattered over,
spread out over a vast reach Of time, but
religious truth projected IN compact
form that flashes light upon the soul and
rives its Indifference.
When the religious discourse of the
future arrives in this Ian and in the
Christian Church, the discourse which is
| to arouse the world and star.le the ma
tions and usher in the kingdom. it will
be brief discourse. Hear it all, theo
logical students; all we just entering
upon religious work; all We men and
women who, in Sabbath schools and other
| departments are toiling for Christ and
the salvation of immortals. Brevity
J Brevityi
But remark also that the religious dis
course Of the future, of which / speak
will be popular discourse. There ars
! those in these times who speak of a pop
ular sermon as though thsre must b.
something wrong about it. AS these
3 critics are dull themselves, the worlt
gets the impression that sermon is good
in proportion as it is stupid. Christ wa
t the most popular preacher the work
/
s Der Of the worlds population, had thu
. largest audiences ever gathered. 81
e never preached anywhere without max
e ing great sensation. People rushed gu
I in the wilderness to hear him, reckless o
i their physical necessities. So great wa
Il their anxiety to hear Christ that, takinI
= no food with them, they would have fam
9 ished and starved had not Christ per
formed a miracle and fed them.
p Why did SO many people take the trut
e at Christ's hands? Because they all IN
: derstood it. He illustrated his subject b.
e hen and her chickens, by
a bushel measure, by handful @
n salt, by a birds fight and by lily
u aroma. All the people knew what h
7, meant and they f1ockel to him. AM
g when the religious discourse of the flu
s. ure appears it will not be Princetoniar
IS not Rochesterian, not Andoverian, nc
:, Middletonian, but Olivetic-plain, pra,
IS tical, unique, earnest, comprehensive c
!, | all the woes, wants, sins, sorrows an
l, necessities of an auditory.
10 But when that eXhortation or discours
y does come there will be thousan
:, CLEAN ing scimetars to charge on i
'h There are in SO many theological sem
naries professors telling young men ho'
IL to preach, themselves not knowing how
o. and am told that if young man in som
OF our theological seminaries says an,
IL thing quaint, or thrilling, or uniqu
~ faculty and students fly at him and 81
n him right and straighten him out, an
* smooth him down, and chop him off, unit
u he says every thing just as every bod
n else says it.
- Oh, when the future religious discours
OF the Christian Church arrives, all tt
70 Churches of Christ in our great cite
"a will be thronged. The world wants spi
~ itual help. All who have buried the
dead want comfort. ALI know Their
- selves to be mortal and to be immort
and they want to hear about the gre
~ future. tell you my friends, if the pc
ID pie of our great cities who have hs
IS trouble only thought they could g
70 practical and sympathetic help in tt
Q, Christian Church, there would not be
ne street in New York, .or Brooklyn, or CT
ir cago, or Charleston, or Philadelphia,
81 Boston which would be passable on Il
Sabbath day if there were church on i
Oh for all the people would press to tn
70 asylum of mercy, that great house
comfort and consolation.